KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Cleveland, Missouri, man faces a federal drug charge after investigators seized approximately 84 pounds of methamphetamine.
Russell D. Kircher, 41, is charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
A narcotics officer was working at the “sort” of the UPS center in Lenexa (1460 Santa Fe Trail Drive) when he located a brown cardboard box being shipped from Los Angeles to Cleveland, Missouri.
The officer noted the 27-pound parcel was closed with clear tape on the seams, which is common when trying to conceal illegal drugs, according to a court document.
When the officer had K-9 Zeus sniff check the package, the canine put his nose on the parcel, alerting the officer to the odor of narcotics.
Additionally, the officer discovered the names associated with the shipper and delivery addresses were fake, which is common in drug transactions, the officer stated in the court document.
After the officer notified UPS that Zeus had flagged the parcel, it was transferred into police custody.
Once a search warrant was granted to search the package, the narcotics officer found 22 clear plastic bags containing meth in a 16x12x12 orange-colored FIFA Home Depot bucket. The contents tested positive for meth.
The next day, May 5, an undercover investigator delivered the package to Kircher’s residence, near E. 215th Street and Holmes Road.
Shortly after the delivery, Cass County Sheriff’s Office investigators responded and detained Kircher. A glass pipe and 2.24 grams of meth were located on his person.
When questioned by investigators, Kircher claimed the package was for his wife. But when investigators reviewed calls he made from the jail on May 6, he made statements indicating ownership of the meth and additional contraband on his property, per a court document.
Wednesday evening, investigators found a large plastic tote on Kircher’s property that contained 27 individual bags of meth, weighing nearly 63 pounds.
Several agencies collaborated in the investigation: the Cass County Sheriff's Office, Cass County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, DEA Kansas City Interdiction Task Force (KCITF), and Missouri Western Interdiction and Narcotics Task Force (MOWIN).
The narcotics officer who discovered the package is a member of MOWIN and KCITF.
In his tenure, K-9 Zeus has helped seize 24,457.8 pounds of marijuana, 4,489 pounds of THC oil, 1.247 pounds of meth, 4,886 tablets of ecstasy, 589.5 pounds of cocaine, 54.8 pounds of heroin, 139.9 pounds of fentanyl, over 24 gallons of PCP and over $3.7 million in cash.
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